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Woodbridge Continues To Hold First In The East After 3-0 Win Over Sanjaxx

07/10/2016, 2:00pm EDT

By League1 Ontario staff

Woodbridge Strikers extended their lead at the top of the east division after a convincing 3-0 win over Sanjaxx Lions on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Park, Toronto.

"You can never take any team lightly based on where they are in the standings, which is what we told the boys before the game," said Woodbridge head coach, Peter Pinizotto.

"You have to take every game as though you are playing the first place team. If you come here and start second guessing just because the opposition is near the bottom of the table, that is not a positive way to approach the game."

Mikateko Zwane (7') opened the scoring for the visitors, and Emmanuel Issac stuck away a second half brace (45', 52') to lead the Strikers to the result. Goalkeeper Dave Ragno kept the clean sheet.

"We had the right mentality and scored early. I think we dipped for fifteen minutes, but then picked it up and limited their chances as well," said Pinizzotto.

"Overall it was a good game for us, and important to bounce back with a win after our recent loss. I thought we finished well today and as the game went on the boys showed growing confidence, so I'm pretty happy with the result," he added.

"We did a good job playing the ball wide, which I think was our strength tonight. We seem to have success right now playing with width, and I'm pleased to see that too."

Sanjaxx head coach Peter Mellon focused on his team's performance, and found plenty of positives.

"I was very happy with the effort today, I felt the team made a massive improvement from the first game," he said. "I don't think the result really reflects the game and our efforts, the possession that we had in the game."

"I was really pleased with the boys, we worked on all those elements during the week and they put it into practice here today. We did well at defending aerial crosses, which we didn't last match. We also had seven players out from our first team, and the younger players that came and filled in did a very good job as well. I was really pleased with the team effort."

Despite being scored on three teams, Sanjaxx could have allowed several more were it not for the excellent goalkeeping of Matt Zaikos.

"Matt [Zaikos] is, in my opinion, the best goalkeeper in the league without any question," commented Mellon.

"He gives a lot of confidence to the team, especially the defence and the midfield knowing that they have him behind them, because he is so good."

With the win, Woodbridge goes four points clear of Vaughan Azzurri at the top of the east division standings.

Woodbridge will play Pro Stars at Vaughan Grove, Woodbridge on July 17 (7 p.m.).

Sanjaxx is currently at the bottom of the west division standings, and will play Vaughan Azzurri on July 17 (2 p.m.) at McNaughton Turf, Vaughan.